Monday, October 07, 2013

Blind Item #7

This B+ list mostly television actress now but an Academy Award winner/nominee in her past did a play last year. She insisted her hair and makeup people be of a certain race. The producers hired some people for her and the actress called them incompetent and unprofessional... and had them fired after opening night. Charges are pending because the two women hired filed grievances with their union. This could get very messy.

40 comments:

  1. Angela Bassett

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  2. I dont think this is wrong unless wrong race people were actually as good as same race people. Its her HAIR, people!!!!!

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  3. other than claiming racism, why can't you fire a stylist for giving you a bad style?

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  4. Judith Light was nominated for a Tony. Lots of tv work and is currently is on Dallas.

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    1. Also, Cynthia Nixon and Stockard Channing were in plays last year.

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  5. Not the union rep! She must be shaking in her weave.

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  6. For personal services such as makeup, hair, grooming ect, the user should be able to change for any reason other than discriminatory. It's union bullshit.

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  7. So why didn't she get her regular stylist the job?

    You'd think she would have had whomever do her hair to see if she liked the way they styled it.

    It is her hair, I have left stylists who came to think of my hair as their hair, and didn't do or listen to what I wanted.

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  8. Judith light not an academy award winner. I like the Jessica Lange guess!

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  9. But did she specifically ask for a certain race, purely for the satisfaction of firing them?

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  10. In her defense im particular in who does my hair and I do look at race

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  11. In her defense im particular in who does my hair and I do look at race

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  12. Yep. Scratch Light and Nixon. Not nominated for Oscar.

    Scratch Jessica Lange. She hasn't been in a play since 2007.

    That leaves me with Stockard Channing. Was nominated for Oscar in 1994.

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  13. If this was a black actress, I could see her wanting a black hair stylist, that would know black hair much better than most white people. I would also think black people know makeup for black skin better too, especially the pancake tone.

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    1. @msgirl - I hear what you're saying but if you reversed your logic you would definitely be called a racist. There is not reason why a nonblack makeup artist/stylist can't work on African americans just as African americans can work on other races.

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    2. If the non black stylist has bern trained (and yes there is special training) then they coul style African American hair. I've had good stylists that were white and black. African American hair is different, every white stylist I've met said they wouldn't touch AA hair without training.

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    3. I agree with Shakira. You have to know black hair to work with black hair. A stylist of any skin color needs special training and experience. Asian hair is also different than Caucasian hair, and I would assume also requires specific training.

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  14. texas - yeah I was trying to play the other side of the fence! But you're right, a pro should be able to do any race.

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    1. msgirl - didn't think you were making a racist comment just pointing out the logic. I make a lot of comments without really thinking about it and then get blasted- it's hard these days.

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  15. I hate unions with a passion.

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  16. I want to say Cicely Tyson. She was in "A Trip to Bountiful." Her character needed to look quite aged, with natural-looking but unkempt grey hair and very noticeable wrinkles. I can imagine some make-up artists having difficulty with the look she wanted, which is the polar opposite of how she usually looks. Off-stage, she appears at least thirty years younger than her actual age (90 this December). We were in the front row, so I was able to really study her face.

    I was also able to study Vanessa Williams up close. She was unbelievably gorgeous.

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  17. I'm fussy about who cuts my hair and make-up well that's close contact...she should be able to pick her own.

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  18. I'm thinking she asked for a black stylist but perhaps the black stylist was more..."ghetto" (I hate saying that word even) than she expected. I could imagine a black actress wanting black hairdressers and makeup artists for the obvious reasons of knowledge in black makeup contouring, weave work, braiding, what have you. But perhaps these stylists were not refined or experienced enough. I'm sure if I was black I would be more comfortable with someone who would be most likely to understand my styling needs.

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  19. Loopymommy - cicely will be 80. She looks incredible for her age!

    @texas rose, you are right, but I will say from personal experience, it can be difficult getting my skin tone just right. So if i were to err on the side of caution, I would prefer to have my makeup done by someone a similar shade as me. And the hair thing...forget about it, I am leery of anyone dealing with it! That said, if I need my makeup done, the artist I regularly use is Swedish and my hairstylist is Japanese,

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    1. @V - I agree there are certainly advantages that are race/background/regional/life experience specific but as you've seen they can be overcome with exp and training.

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  20. Definitely Texas Rose. I think a better request would be to ensure the artist/stylist has heavy experience working with dark skin, tightly coiled hair, etc. You would be surprised how many don't!

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  21. Honestly if the actress was African American I can see her requesting another for her hair. AA can do white hair but white stylists may not be as acquainted with the nuances of black hair. And maybe the firing was just because they did a whack job. Sorry that the union isn't happy about that.

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  22. V, thank you for correcting my egregious arithmetic. Yes, she will be 80 in December. I remember watching "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" in the 70s where she had "old age" make-up applied and realizing how amazing she was to be so believable as both a 20-year old and a 110-year old. Fabulous.

    Oh, and Condola Rashad was in "Bountiful" as well and was ah-mazing.

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  23. I've also had a totally lovely black stylist be confounded by my utter lack of hair comparative to what she was used to - I'm white and don't have lush thick hair, I need someone who knows how to give it body! The extremes of white/black can be very marked - this could go either way. Of course, however, white people can fail to do white people's hair just as egregiously...

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  25. Totally agree with the comments regarding working with different hair and soon tones.

    I'm white and freckly and I find that Asian make up artists want to hide my freckles and suggest darker foundations because of that. Which just don't blend with my white white neck.

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  26. "But did she specifically ask for a certain race, purely for the satisfaction of firing them?"

    I think this is the key to the blind. Otherwise, no lawsuit.

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  27. Ditto on hating unions. As to the whole hair thing, I have no opinion.

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  28. If it is an african american actress, who asked for a/a hair and makeup---there is a real skill/talent for doing makeup for darker skinned actors for the stage--as well as the skill in doing hair that's been discussed.

    I have a master's degree in stage design and have done a lot of stage makeup --and if you don't understand the color and lighting and how to do the makeup correctly it can look bad under stage lighting.

    I could see this person wanting to hire african american artists to show support--but maybe they didn't have the skillset for whatever part she was playing--hence wanting them replaced. Stage makeup--and in particular if it was age makeup is a particular art form--it's not just styling --so maybe she got people who do more fashion -type work and they were not up to what the role required.

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  29. I think Tara is right, and I think this was Angela Bassett.

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  30. I'm a white former hairstylist and I'm decent with certain aspects of styling black hair, but not all. I can make it look straight or lightly curled and lovely but I admittedly have no skills on how to do weaves, cornrows, or how to style completely unrelaxed hair.

    I actually worked hard to learn the things I do know because, for one thing...I'm anti discrimination, but another thing...black women typically spend 25% of their income on hair. Why on earth would I ignore that income potential. A lot of stylists in hair school were total bitches about doing black hair though.

    I'd be disappointed if an actress didn't want to work with me, but I'd understand.

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